Wasabi (2001)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Gérard Krawczyk

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

31 October 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Quite Possibly The Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy Of All Time.

Plot:

Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Letter | Golf Club | Corpse | Girl

Cast

Jean Reno	...	Hubert Fiorentini
Ryoko Hirosue	...	Yumi Yoshimido
Michel Muller	...	Maurice 'Momo'
Carole Bouquet	...	Sofia
Yoshi Oida	...	Takanawa
Christian Sinniger	...	Le Squale
Alexandre Brik	...	Irène
Jean-Marc Montalto	...	Olivier (as Jean Marc Montalto)
Véronique Balme	...	Betty
Fabio Zenoni	...	Josy
Haruhiko Hirata	...	Ishibashi
Michel Scourneau	...	Van Eyck (as Mikhel Scourneau)
Jacques Bondoux	...	Del Rio
Osamu Tsuruya	...	Douanier 1
Akihiko Nishida	...	Douanier 2

Also Known As:

La petite moutarde qui monte au nez (France) (subtitle)
The Professional II (South Africa: English title) (DVD box title)
Wasabi - The Japanese Dip That Kicks Like a Mule (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France | Japan

Language:

French | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

In the arcade, the game that all the young characters convince Hubert ('Jean Reno') to play is "Dance Dance Revolution". Before you see the DDR machine (it's a 5th Mix), many of the other music-related games that are shown are also part of the Bemani series, including Beatmania and many others. The song that the characters play is 'Dive' by BeForU, and Jean Reno's character does fail on the easiest difficulty level (Basic Mode, known in more recent generations of the game as Light Mode).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of equipment (presumably the camera) visible as camera pans forward in the club during the opening. Watch the floor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Taxi 3 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Reverie

THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING

I am no Jean Reno fan, but I hired this one on DVD today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although technically a French Film, it was mostly made in Japan and gives some insight into Japanese culture. The film provokes both tears and laughter in successive bouts. I didn't like the beginning with all its techno rubbish, but once that was out of the way and the story got going I really enjoyed myself. Reno was really quite amusing and the storyline, although nothing original, enables the spectator to enjoy him or herself. In addition, the Japanese actress was cute. Although the film cannot be considered a major work of art, it is sure to have international success as its theme is fairly universal and should be appreciated across a wide variety of cultures. There are many things which would make anyone laugh, whatever their culture or origin. There is little typically French about the film and indeed most of the action is in Tokyo. I can say fairely safely that all but the most cynical would get a great deal of fun out of this 90 minute stint. Bravo, and let's hope the film gets known worldwide !